Feb 26, 2019
FATHER GROPPI
There were a number of key figures in the fight for open housing in Milwaukee in the 1960s, one of those prominent figures is Father James Groppi of St. Boniface Church. As the leader of Milwaukee’s NAACP Youth Council Chapter, Groppi grabbed every opportunity he could to get the media’s attention regarding the injustice of African Americans in Milwaukee and the discrimination they faced when trying to rent or purchase homes outside of Milwaukee’s “inner core” neighborhood. This clip is from a press conference shortly after the open housing riots in July 1967 and comes from the UWM WTMJ-TV news collection: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00203